milk tea and pocky, please
by maravelous
Summary: Oneshot; Today, she is fueled by an abundance of sugar and denial. — NejiTen; For Just Lovely


- dedicated to _Just Lovely_;  
>Thanks for all your kind words,<br>you truly have a big heart! :)

＊

**milk tea and pocky, please**

＊

The mission was not simple.

Guarding a freshly married couple on their way back to the Rain village _should_ have been easy, yes. But this couple happened to be the Raikage's first cousin and his new wife, who was sister to the Kazekage, and oh, did people resent them.

So of course Tenten was pretty much _bombarded _by Rogue Nin almost as soon as she and the couple stepped outside of Konoha, and she did not get a moment's rest from the attacks all the way to the Rain village.

Oh, the couple got back safe and alive, of course. But not without losing half of their money and jewels.

And for this, Tenten had just experienced, this morning, one of the worst reprimands of her life by the new "Hokage", Naruto.

Tenten still spit out "Hokage" as bitterly as she could whenever noting this position and Naruto in the same sentence, because she still couldn't believe the kid had surpassed her beloved Tsunade without even trying.

But even so, she had to give him credit; not just _anyone_ could do that.

Even if he _was_ an asshole.

"Stupid Naruto," she grumbled to herself as she climbed down the stairs from the Hokage's tower two steps at a time. "Not even holding back."

He'd definitely let her have it. She knew she was going to get in trouble for messing up on her mission, but she didn't think he'd go on a rampage. Calling her a failure. Saying she should have tried harder. Ordering her to go make him some of her famous fried rice. The latter was an invitation which she'd utterly refused.

"I don't care if he's Hokage, I'm not his personal chef…"

"Oh, Tenten. I thought I heard you."

Tenten stopped short when she whipped angrily around the corner to be faced with Neji, who paused on his way up the stairs to greet her. She sighed and lifted a hand glumly. "Hi Neji."

He tilted his head to the side, a habit he had that she recognized him to use when he was trying to figure out how people worked, something he seemed to have trouble with. "You're upset," he observed at last, seeming slightly victorious at having discovered this on his own. "Is something wrong?"

Tenten glowered, and leaned against the railing of the staircase. "Yes," she muttered. "I majorly screwed up on my last mission, and Naruto just gave me a really lame talking to about it…As if I don't already feel bad enough!"

Neji frowned, his pale eyes looking her over. "Is there anything I can do…?"

Tenten looked up at him in surprise. It was rare of him to offer help. Of course, he _had_ been growing up a lot over the last couple months, years even. However, not wanting to be a burden on other people, she shook her head. "No." She laughed a bit and joked, "Unless you want to get me some sweets. Milk tea and pocky would be nice."

Neji smiled a bit, and she said with a sigh, "Well, I'm going to go cheer myself up on my own for now. See you around, Neji."

"See you."

Feeling a little better at having seen her friend, Tenten skipped down the rest of the steps a little less gloomily. But as she did so, she had a sudden decision to take her craving seriously. "Why not?" she said aloud to herself with a little smile. Milk tea and pocky really did sound nice, now that she thought about it.

So, lifting her arms over her head and stretching as she exited the tower to enter the brilliant sunlight of the early morning outdoors, she changed her direction, away from her small apartment near the forests to the west of Konoha, to the shopping district on the left of the small dirt path she'd exited out onto, where she was looking forward to buying herself some treats. Just to indulge herself a little.

＊

"Ino, I don't get why you're being so quiet recently! Can't you just talk to me?"

"I _said_ I'm _fine_, Chouji! Can't you leave it be?"

Tenten tilted her head to the side. Ino? She was supposed to be working, wasn't she?

At one of the shops, Tenten was picking out a couple sweets to take home, when she overheard what she thought at first was a couple squabbling, but then realized was just Ino and Chouji on the other side of the shelf, fighting about something or other.

However, Tenten knew Ino should have been at the flower shop today. She had grown close to Ino over the years, and now considered her a good friend. She knew when Ino was at the flower shop, and today, Monday at about 9:00 AM, Ino was supposed to be working diligently as she always was.

Not wanting to be caught as an eavesdropper, but still curious as to why Ino was here at a grocery store when she shouldn't have been, Tenten lurked by the shelf, her ears perked to pick up the conversation that was hissed in hushed, constrained voices on the other side of the shelf.

"I'm just worried about you Ino," Chouji was insisting in an effort to be convincing. "You're my friend, and I want to know what's wrong."

"Oh, that's what you keep saying," Ino snapped in a whisper. "'You're my friend, you're my friend, blah blah blah', don't you know any other words?"

"Well what do you _want_ me to say?" Tenten heard the sound of Chouji sweeping around to step in front of Ino, blocking her way. "Ever since I lost weight you've been avoiding me. What, are you suddenly upset that I did? _You_ were the one bugging me all the time about being fat!"

"It's not about that!" Ino insisted impatiently.

"So you're admitting something _is_ going on!" Ino was silent, and Tenten's eyebrows raised; Chouji was quite sneaky.

Finally Ino heaved a sigh, and Tenten listened to the pat of one of her shoes on the ground as she shifted her position. "I'm not mad at you," Ino muttered dejectedly. "And nothing is wrong. I'm just busy, and there are a lot of things on my mind. You just happen to be…caught in the middle of them."

"How?" Chouji scoffed. "Come on, it can't be that big of a deal. It's not like you're in love with me or something."

Tenten's eyes widened. Oh, no.

The silence rang through the shelves, the only sounds were the workers at the sushi bar in the front of the store, and the soft hiss of pipes and clacks of boxes as the two other customers in the store shifted through the shelves.

Finally Chouji stuttered, sounding very nervous, "W…Wait, you're…you're not…I mean…"

"M...My lunch break is almost over…" Ino said slowly, her voice choked and sounding very forced. "I'm going back to work."

"W…Wait…Ino—"

"—Don't ask to meet me here again. I won't come."

Tenten winced when she heard Ino pushing past Chouji, and flattened herself against the shelf. Ino walked past without even glancing at Tenten, and she heaved a sigh of relief, relaxing and watching the blonde slipping out of the doors of the little sweets shop.

She heard Chouji on the other side of the shelves heave a depressed and confused sigh, and she shook her head slowly, bewildered. Well, it seemed she wasn't the only one having a bad day already.

＊

After buying her treats and leaving the shop, Tenten made her way home. It was still early in the morning as she crossed from the dirt road of the shopping district onto the homey little shortcut to her apartment, lined with lots of trees and scenery. The sunrise was just ending, and the peach-and-plum sky above was studded with ice cream clouds and puffs of Jacob's Ladders.

Tenten felt the chills of late October dancing with the goose bumps along her arms, and dragged her free hand along her shoulder to warm herself.

She was deciding what to do for the rest of the day, when she turned a corner to see something strange. Her apartment was on the second level of a small building, and she could see from where she was that there was someone standing there on the balcony right outside of it. A figure in white, holding a plastic bag…

She frowned curiously, and ran over to climb the stairs up to greet the visitor.

"Neji?"

Neji turned to face her, blinking in surprise. "Oh. I was wondering where you were. I thought you'd be at home," he said conversationally, as usual not even bothering to greet her.

Tenten gave him a look. "No, I was just shopping…What are you doing here? Do you need something?"

Neji held up the plastic bag. "You said you wanted me to get you milk tea and pocky." Tenten gazed between the bag and Neji's blank face uncomfortably, and waited expectantly while he was silent.

Since he didn't seem to be enlightening her any further, she pressed, "Uh, yeah?"

Neji nodded. "So, here they are."

Tenten stared at the bag, and gasped. "Oh! You…actually got me some?"

Neji raised a brow as Tenten shyly marveled at the bag. "You asked me to," he reminded her.

"Well…Well, yeah, but I was just…" She stared at Neji, who stared back at her with a face almost void of emotion, and she sighed. "Well, anyways…I actually _just_ bought myself some." She held up her own plastic bag and smiled sheepishly. "See?"

Neji eyed the bag. "You already got yourself some?" he gathered. "If you were intending to do so anyways, why did you bother asking me?"

"Uh…W…Well, it was…" Tenten coughed. "It was actually supposed to be a joke…" Neji just blinked at her, and she sighed. "Oh, well. Thanks anyways, Neji. Sorry I made you go do that, you really didn't have to."

"It's no problem, I have a free day," Neji replied simply.

Tenten smiled. "So do I! Hm, since both of us are free, we should go ahead and take advantage of the sweets. Why don't you come in and we can eat them together?"

"I don't like sweets," Neji said automatically, to Tenten's disappointment. She put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, then smiled and snapped her fingers.

"Then how about black tea? I can make you some black tea, I'm really good at it."

Neji watched her carefully for a couple seconds, during which Tenten felt like she was under a microscope, then his face broke out into a rare, friendly smile. "Sure."

Tenten grinned. She felt like she'd just won a battle. Of course, she figured as she opened her door with a knowing smile, in a sense, she had.

＊

Tenten sat across the table from Neji, watching him as he knelt there politely sipping his tea. He always had been polite company, she had to remind herself, trying to get past the fact that other than answering her questions, he was completely silent. She hardly ever invited him over to her house, and when she did, Lee was usually there to break the silence.

But today, Lee was out of town with Gai-sensei on a mission. So it was just her, and Neji.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable with the silence, Tenten decided to break it by forcing small talk, something she had learned from Ino and slowly gotten very good at.

"So…How is Hinata?" she inquired as happily as she could.

Unfortunately her cheerfulness did not reach Neji, who was as bland as ever. But he answered nonetheless, saying slowly, "She's fine…"

Tenten picked up a spoon and scooped up some sugar from the bowl in the center of the table, saying idly, "So she's getting married to Naruto soon, right?"

"This spring, yes," Neji said calmly as Tenten emptied the spoon of sugar into her tea.

Stirring the tea vigorously, Tenten said almost dreamily, "I never would have thought she'd ever get the confidence to go through with a marriage. I keep remembering who she used to be and I can hardly believe she's still the same girl."

This finally seemed to reach Neji's emotion. The ghost of a smile appeared on his face, and he shrugged as he picked up his teacup. "She's definitely gotten happier since she began her relationship with Naruto." He paused and glanced at Tenten, and she felt herself blush at the way he looked at her. His eyes almost bore straight into hers, and she felt like he was examining her every—

"You have chocolate on your face."

Tenten's cheeks turned red. She quickly snatched up a napkin and hid her face in it, saying in a muffled, embarrassed squeak, "O-Oh! Thank you for telling me!"

Oh, how humiliating. She quickly wiped the chocolate from her face, and not wanting to get her hair in the mess anymore, took a moment to brush her bangs from her eyes.

As she did this, she noticed something strange come over Neji. She looked up at him, inquiring as to if he was ill or not. Oh, it would be just her luck if the tea she made him got him food poisoning.

But he did not look ill, only interested. Almost in a daze, his pale lips moved slowly to say in a mumble, "Pretty."

Tenten blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

Neji suddenly seemed to be snapped out of a trance. Shaking his head, he coughed and said, "Oh, um, nothing."

"What's pretty?" Tenten asked, confused.

Neji stared at her, and said, words fumbling, "Your…apartment."

Tenten tilted her head to the side, contemplating these words, as Neji watched her nervously. Then she clasped her hands together and beamed. "Really? You think so?"

Neji seemed slightly relieved, but also slightly on edge. "Um…Well…"

"You think it is? Is it pretty?"

Neji coughed, and crossed his arms. "Uh, I guess…I mean, it's okay. Kind of boring."

Tenten immediately seemed to deflate. "Boring?" she repeated, face lowering.

Neji's hands flew up, and, flustered, he stuttered, "No, well, I mean, you could just use some…plants, I heard they're good for…atmosphere and…"

His voice faded as Tenten heaved a sigh, nodding slowly. "Yeah, you're right," she said sadly, looking around her apartment. She observed the table on the floor in the middle of the room, the bamboo mats, the bare counters and bare walls. The only decoration she had was a vase in the corner decorated with paintings of golden dragons twirling around it. "My apartment _is_ boring, now that I think about it…" she said dejectedly. "I spend so much time training with you, and I usually eat out with friends. I really don't invite people in much so I never bothered with making it pretty…"

She frowned and turned back to the table, ignoring Neji who seemed to be desperately trying to say something, and she pounded her fist into her palm determinedly. "But I'm an adult now! I have to take responsibilities for my belongings, and that includes my house!"

She smiled and got to her feet, bending over to snatch Neji's now empty tea cup from his hands. "Thanks, Neji! You're always so good at teaching me new things!"

Neji gaped at her for a few seconds, seeming to be at a loss for words, before he sighed and stood as well. "…I should go then."

"Bye-bye!" Tenten called cheerfully from the sink, where she was washing the teacups and plates, waving him out the door. As she scrubbed at one of the plates distractedly, she thought to herself. She was suddenly reminded of Ino, who she'd seen at the sweets shop. She would probably be the perfect person to ask about getting a plant for the apartment.

Tenten grinned. "It's decided!" she declared. "I'm going plant-shopping today!"

＊

Devil's ivy was easy to take care of, wasn't it?

Tenten examined the little green plant sitting in its brown pot. It was pretty, and seemed lively enough. It would certainly make her apartment less bland, that was for sure.

The music in the flower shop blended together with the carefree atmosphere. Tenten puckered her lips as she held the plant up to the light. She wasn't home enough to be able to handle anything high-maintenance. Like she'd mentioned before to Neji, she was always out training, or eating out with friends. She made a point to stay out of the apartment and in the fresh air as much as she could, she liked it better that way. That was the only reason she didn't get one of those adorable puppies Kiba was always offering her.

Feeling melancholy now, remembering her lack of fluffy puppies, she shook her head and glanced around the shop. The only other people in there were a couple standing in the corner, and an unfamiliar brunette lady standing at the counter in the front. Ino was nowhere to be found.

Tenten pouted and turned back to the plant. Ignoring the sound of the shop door opening, she sulked. She had meant to ask Ino if the plant was easy upkeep or not, but now she was wondering where Ino even was.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where Ino is?"

Tenten twitched at the familiar voice, and whipped around to see Chouji standing at the counter, addressing the brunette lady, who was shrugging.

"I'm sorry," the lady said. "But she called off early. I don't know where she could have gone."

Chouji, shoulders sagging a bit, seemed disappointed, but thanked the lady anyways, and left the shop. He didn't even notice Tenten standing in the corner with her plant.

Tenten frowned and put a finger to her chin. "Huh…"

＊

Well. This was certain.

Tenten was bored.

She groaned aloud. "Boooring," she said loudly to no one in particular.

There she was, sitting cross legged on the bamboo floors, chucking a kunai at the target pasted to the back of her front door and pulling it back again with the transparent string she'd attached to it.

It was a rare day when she had nothing to do, and since she wasn't used to leisure, she felt extremely on edge, sitting there in her living room, alone with no company but her kunai-studded target, the pile of scrolls in the corner, and her new plant. She glowered at the plant now. The thing sat there on her windowsill, as if it was mocking her. It really hadn't done anything to liven up the apartment.

"What a waste of money," she muttered. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes in malcontent, she swung the kunai at the door once more, this time with mush gusto.

But as soon as it left her fingertips, the door opened.

Her eyes widened as she saw Neji entering, walking directly into the path of the kunai. Fortunately, he was well-accustomed to kunai being hurled at him by Tenten by now, and, his eyes quickly catching sight of it, he caught it between his fingertips just in time. The tip of it was barely centimeters away from hitting him square between the eyes.

As he lowered the weapon, giving Tenten a confused look, Tenten jumped to her feet, gaping at him. "What are you trying to do, commit suicide?" she cried.

Neji raised a brow. "No, I'm not."

"If you're feeling like ending it all, you should really talk to someone, you know. And if it's some sort of adrenaline addiction thing, I'm sure there are injections you can take. You should talk to Sakura about that."

"Tenten…" Neji frowned. "_You_'re the one that threw the kunai…"

Tenten glowered at Neji for a few seconds, then suddenly she bent at the waist, and began to bow to him a couple times. "I know! I'm sorry!" she groaned. "I didn't know anyone was coming! Ah, Ino _told_ me I shouldn't have put the target on the back of the door. But none of the other walls let the kunai stick in them as well! Besides, I like sitting in _that_ particular spot in the living room the most, because it's warm, because the sunlight comes in through the window over there at noon and hits that spot, and at noon the sun is the strongest, because that's when it's highest in the sky you know. And from that spot, the door is the spot where I can throw the kunai most comfortably, and besides the kitchen walkway is over there so there are no more doors to hit, and as I said before I don't like hitting the walls, because—"

"—Tenten…"

Tenten blinked, staring at Neji expectantly, and he said slowly, "Just…stop talking for a second."

Tenten nodded slowly, squeaking another, "Sorry," under her breath.

Neji closed the door behind him, saying calmly, "It's fine. You weren't about to hit me or anything; I have excellent reflexes."

Tenten tilted her head to the side. "Way to give yourself credit," she said with a little laugh.

Neji smiled at her joke, and turned to face her, throwing her kunai carefully back at her. "Sorry to intrude anyways," he continued as she caught the kunai easily and put it safely in her pocket. "Your door was open, so I figured, since you're home, I could just come in. Lee does that all the time, if I remember."

Tenten nodded, heaving a sigh. "Yeah, that's no problem. So why _did_ you come here, other than trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm not trying to—"

"—I know, I'm joking."

Neji shook his head, seeming very confused. "…I was…um…Well I was here to…"

Tenten watched Neji closely as he floundered about with his words, seeming to have trouble finding them. She raised a brow slowly. "Yes…?"

"Um…well I just wanted to…" His eyes traveled around the room, 'till they stuck on the pile of scrolls in the corner, and he turned back to Tenten quickly, saying sharply, "Borrow a scroll!"

Tenten stared at him. "Huh?"

Neji swallowed, and nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, I need to borrow a scroll…I want to…train…and I…need a scroll…apparently…" His voice faded away, and he seemed slightly disappointed in himself.

Tenten edged towards the scrolls awkwardly. "Oh, uh…Okay. No problem, I guess…" She stopped by the scrolls and picked one up, and laughed as she walked slowly over to Neji. "You know, Neji, you've been acting kinda weird recen—"

"—Thank you, goodbye."

Tenten blinked in surprise when, in a gust of wind, Neji snatched the scroll, and left her apartment in un-human speed.

Mouth falling open, Tenten scratched her head as the door slammed shut behind him. "Well…" she said after a few seconds of bewildered silence. "That was…weird."

Silence rang through her living room. That is, until it was broken by the sound of her stomach.

She clutched her waist, trying in vain to muffle the growling. "Eek…" she said, grimacing. She remembered now that she'd finished the last of the pocky, and now she was still feeling hungry…

Looking outside, she saw the sun was flowing in through the window quite brightly. It was noon.

She smiled. "Lunchtime," she decided cheerfully. She _had_ been wanting to get some ramen, recently.

＊

"Hey, look who it is."

Tenten was interrupted while walking down the path to the ramen stand by a voice called from her right. She spotted Kiba and Hinata, lugging a sofa down the walkway of the Inuzuka's house, and she walked over past a row of small trees to greet them.

Hinata's hair was in her face, and she was trying in vain to pull it away as she and Kiba struggled to keep a hold on the sofa as they both set it gently down on the ground. She straightened up in a hurry to greet Tenten with a tiny smile. "Hi Tenten."

"Hi," Tenten replied politely. "What are you two doing?"

Kiba gestured to the sofa while catching his breath. "Look at this!" He gestured to the piece of furniture which Tenten observed idly. "Since Hinata and Naruto are moving in together, Hinata decided to give me her extra stuff."

"I'm helping him move it into his house," Hinata explained as Kiba dusted his hands proudly. She smiled and shrugged. "Naruto already has a sofa, so we won't be needing it."

Kiba clapped his hands together, seeming excited. "It'll be great for Akamaru to sleep on!"

Tenten tilted her head to the side. "Does Akamaru not have a bed to sleep on already?"

Kiba shook his head. "Naw, I got a sofa right now. But this one is a lot better." Tenten's interests were suddenly perked as Kiba massaged his shoulders. "It's a shame I have to get rid of the other one. It's not as good as this one, but it's still a good sofa."

Tenten recalled, now, Neji mentioning her bland apartment. The word "boring" echoed in her head, and she grinned, facing Kiba eagerly. "Is there nothing wrong with it?" she asked him sharply.

Kiba blinked in surprise, sharing a look with Hinata while contemplating Tenten's sudden, business-like state. "Uh…No," he said cautiously. "Like I said, it's in good condition."

"Can I have it?" Tenten clasped her hands together, gazing at a slightly shocked Kiba with wide eyes.

Kiba and Hinata yet again shared a look, and Kiba slowly shrugged. "Um…Sure, if you can find someone to help you move it out, it's all yours."

Tenten grinned, and Hinata frowned at her. "Do you need a sofa, Tenten?" she asked interestedly.

Tenten nodded. "Sort of. I just need something to…liven up my apartment, is all." She faced Kiba. "So, where is it, anyways?"

"It's inside," Kiba said, nodding towards the open door of the Inuzuka's house. "In the first room to the left, the room next to the dog kennel. You can take a look at it now if you want, me and Hinata will just be taking this one into my room."

"Great, thanks!" Tenten said happily.

After bidding the two goodbye and helping them lift the sofa into their arms once more, she made her way into Kiba's house, to the first room on the left.

And there, she was met with an alarming sight. One that she could have sworn, since the first day she met Ino Yamanaka, she never would have seen.

The first room to the left was a storage room, holding boxes of blankets, dog bedding, dog food, and extra furniture. The sofa was there, against the wall.

But there was another door in the room, and it was open. It was the door that led to the dog kennels. The dogs were not there, probably outside at the moment. But someone else was there instead.

"Ino?"

The blonde woman looked up in surprise to face Tenten. She was on her knees, holding a hand over her nose as she scrubbed the floor of the dog kennel with her free hand, using just a dirty rag an a bucket of soapy water.

"…Tenten?"

The two young women stared at each other for a couple seconds, their eyes registering the other's presence.

'Till finally, Ino jumped to her feet and dashed over to Tenten, pointing the dirty rag in Tenten's face. Tenten flinched, backing away from the rag and the unpleasant odor it was wafting, and stared in shock at Ino as the blonde hissed dangerously, "If you _ever _tell Forehead what you saw here today, I will rip your mouth off." Tenten cringed as Ino shook the rag and snapped, "_Understood_?"

Tenten nodded desperately, wanting the rag to be removed from her general location. To her relief, Ino slowly lowered it, and Tenten could relax, watching as Ino's shoulders sagged and she heaved a sad sigh. "Agh. I'd hoped no one but Kiba would see me in this position," she mourned "To think I lowered myself to this remedial position in the first place…"

Tenten eyed Ino curiously. "Um, if you don't mind me asking…What _are _you doing here, Ino?"

The blonde turned around and walked back into the dog kennels, seeming to regret her every step. "Cleaning," she said over her shoulder as she did so. "I ran into Kiba not too long ago, and he mentioned he needs someone to clean the floors of the dog kennels in his house. So, I offered."

"But shouldn't you be working at the flower shop?" Tenten queried, slipping cautiously into the doorframe to watch as Ino dipped the rag in the soapy water again and resumed her scrubbing. "You're always there at this time."

Ino did not say anything. Her face was hidden by a curtain of golden hair, bending over to work on a particularly nasty-looking spot on the dirty floor.

Tenten took another step closer into the dog kennels, and, choosing her words very carefully, she said, "Are you…avoiding someone?"

Ino's whole body cringed, and her hair flew as her face snapped up to glare at Tenten. "No!" she cried, although her eyes showed signs of nervousness. "I'm not avoiding someone! I'm just scrubbing shit from the floor because…" Her voice faded, and her eyes snapped here and there, searching for an excuse. Finally she choked out, "I just feel like scrubbing shit!"

Tenten said nothing, and Ino blinked wildly up at her. Desperate, she changed the subject, "So...Well, what are _you_ doing here?" she retorted snappishly. "You never told me why _you're_ in the Inuzuka's house today! Shouldn't you be training…or something…?"

Tenten shrugged, still very bewildered but trying to give Ino just a bit of dignity. "I have a free day," she responded. "And I'm here with Kiba's permission. I was on my way to lunch when I ran into him just now, and he said I could have his sofa…"

"Oh…" Ino seemed slightly disappointed that Tenten didn't have any embarrassing reason to be here. Conversationally she asked as she continued to scrub the floor, "What do you need a sofa for?"

"I'm trying to liven up my house," Tenten answered. "Neji reminded me today that it's a little boring, so I want to put some things in it."

Laughing, Ino said sarcastically, "Are you trying to impress him?"

And Tenten froze.

It was just a joke. She knew that. Ino wasn't asking _seriously_. But why was she suddenly sweating?

Ino, noticing that Tenten had suddenly gone silent, turned to look at her. Her blue eyes widened, and she said slowly, "Wait…You _are_, aren't you?"

"N-No!" Tenten shook her hands in the air nervously, noting in the back of her mind that now _she_ was the one trying to deny something…strange how the table had turned like this. "Of course I'm not, I just…took something he said to heart, that doesn't mean I'm…Well I just…"

Ino was staring at Tenten like she was observing a new skirt. But now, she slumped a bit, and stuck her tongue in her cheek as she sat, relaxing, looking around the floor. "Look at us," she said with a dejected frown. "We're both in the same situation, aren't we?"

"Wh…What situation…?" Tenten asked nervously, knowing she would regret the answer.

Ino nodded her head at Tenten, making a face like she was surprised Tenten didn't know. "Well, we're both growing up fast, aren't we? We're already falling for our teammates."

Tenten's face heated up as she felt a blush spread from her cheeks, to her nose, to her entire head. "N…No _way_!" she cried, jumping back into the storage room. She gave a nervous, breathy laugh, shaking her head wildly. "Ino, that's such an inaccurate accusation! I would never, _ever_ think of Neji as anything more than a friend!" Backing away and stumbling over furniture and boxes, she said with a hysterically forced giggle, "Now that you're done being silly, I have to go. Goodbye!"

But as she left, she heard Ino calling, "Tenten, I know how it feels!" Tenten winced, and ran the rest of the way out of Kiba's house.

Her heart was pounding in her chest.

But she decided to do what she always did:

Pretend nothing happened.

She was pretty good at that.

＊

And, speak of the devil.

"Neji…?" Tenten paused in the middle of the dirt road. She was only a couple blocks away from the Inuzuka's house, and she'd already run into him. What kind of terrible coincidence was this?

But there he was, emerging from the trees and walking over to her. Strangely enough, he seemed just as confused as she was to run into her yet again. "Oh, hi…" he said awkwardly. She noticed the scroll in his arms; it hadn't been unwrapped. She frowned and looked Neji. He seemed relatively clean, in fact there wasn't a speck of dirt on him. Confused, she tilted her head to the side. "Weren't you supposed to be training?"

"Hm?" Neji coughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I was…But I decided not to. I, um…I have a headache."

Tenten put a finger to her chin, worried. "Are you sick? Do you need to eat something?"

Neji shook his head quickly. "No, I'm fine. I just need more sleep, that's all."

Tenten frowned. "Well, just in case you need to eat, I'm on my way to lunch now. You can join me if you want."

"Um…no," Neji denied her request quickly. "No, I'm really not hungry…I was actually on my way to drop these back off at your apartment. Is your door still open?"

"Yeah, you can go in…" Tenten paused, then grinned. "Oh!" She grabbed Neji's sleeve, stopping him from walking away. "Can I ask you a favor?" Neji watched her expectantly, and she dropped his sleeve. "Kiba let me have one of his old sofas, and I'm moving it into my house today. Can you help me move it?"

Neji's eyes swept over her, and for a few seconds a bubble of hope staggered in Tenten's chest. Then, yet again his rare smile overcame his face, and he nodded. "Sure."

Tenten beamed. "Thanks so much!" She twisted around, and called over her shoulder. "Meet me in front of Kiba's house in half an hour?"

"No problem."

＊

Apparently she wasn't the only one craving ramen that day.

"So...Naruto, Chouji," Tenten said kindly, addressing the two young men who sat to her left at the stand. Chouji had his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the counter. Naruto was giving him a look that was mixed with both pity and slight amusement. Chouji looked up with a sad gaze, and Tenten, feeling bad for him, gave him the sweetest smile she could. "What are you two up to?"

Naruto turned his nose up to Tenten, wrapping an arm around Chouji's back in a friendly way. "_I'm_ giving my pal here some advice!" he said boastfully. "We're talking about something _you_ couldn't possibly understand."

Tenten raised a brow, and held back the urge to punch the Hokage in the face. "Uh huh," she said emotionlessly. "And I'm guessing you're not going to tell me what it is you're talking about then, huh?"

"It's _men_ stuff, Tenten," Naruto said with a pitying sigh, shaking his head in her direction like she was a clueless five-year-old. "Kunoichi have no business in this kind of discussion."

"…Really now…?" Tenten's fist twitched, but she held herself back, promising that someday she'd 'accidentally' step on the foot of his and Hinata's future kid, just to get back at him.

She folded her arms on the counter, stomach growling silently as she waited for Ayame to complete her order. Chouji was very slowly slurping his noodles as Naruto talked, sounding very proud of himself, like he was making a speech: "Now Chouji, the _w-word _is a very _mysterious_ creature. _I_ know because I _have_ one of my very own, and for the longest time, she really confused me!"

Tenten rolled her eyes; he was purposely speaking loudly, trying to make it known to Tenten that he was important, and Chouji had come to _him_ for advice. Even though it was obvious to Tenten that Chouji had only come to Naruto because Shikamaru was now living with Temari in Suna. Naruto was his last resort, Hokage or not everyone knew he wasn't the right person to go to for personal problems.

"The _w-word_ can sometimes say or do things that don't make sense to us men," Naruto continued. "This is because, hidden beneath their innocent exterior, is someone _super_ _lame_, who wants to make your life _miserable_ and—"

"—Okay, if I may?" Tenten, having had enough of listening to this, interrupted Naruto and leaned in to place a hand gently on Chouji's shoulder. Chouji looked up at her interestedly, and she said with a strained smile, "I'm going to give you some of _my_ advice," giving Naruto a dirty look. "I say you just tell Ino, honestly, how you feel!"

Chouji's eyes grew huge. Naruto gasped, "How do you know what we're—?"

"—Cuz I'm a woman," Tenten said loudly. She didn't want Chouji to know she'd been eavesdropping, so she shrugged and told him, "I have good intuition."

Chouji was stunned. "But that's not fair!" he said. "What are you, psychic?"

Tenten shook her head with a small laugh. "It's obvious!" she said. "As a woman, I can see how people act when they're in love but don't know it. You always want to be around each other, but you avoid each other like the plague. You try to impress the other, but always end up doing something stupid because you're nervous. And you try to be as honest and nice to the other as you can, but somehow end up lying and making mistakes…Not to mention you're always in denial of being in love in the first place." She held up a hand, and waved it in front of Chouji's face. "That's what I see in you and Ino."

Chouji's mouth was gaping open, and she found it slightly humorous, but not wanting to hurt his feelings held back her laugh.

"Here's your order, Tenten."

She turned with a smile to pay and receive her ramen from Ayame. Facing the other two, Naruto seeming very put-off and Chouji apparently floundering for an excuse as to how Tenten knew this, she smiled. "I have to go now. I'm eating on the road, Neji's waiting for me."

Naruto scoffed as she stood and began to leave the tent, muttering distractedly, "What, are you two dating now or something?"

Tenten felt herself blush and shook her head wildly. "Of course not!" she cried as she exited the tent, sticking her tongue out in Naruto's direction before hurrying away. "Sheesh," she snapped under her breath as she walked, opening her packet of ramen. "He shouldn't be so ridicu…"

But her voice faded away, because she'd realized something.

All the things she'd listed, that described Chouji and Ino, that described people in love…

She and Neji…

＊

"So…I saw Naruto again today…"

And, here she was again. Forcing small talk with Neji. But this time, they were lugging a sofa on their shoulders down the road towards Tenten's apartment. The sun was no longer at its highest in the sky, and the birds were flying in repetitious circles through the strands of white clouds.

The lukewarm breeze rustled Neji's hair as he trudged on with the sofa. "Was he still upset with you?" he asked, although not enthusiastically.

"Yes," Tenten grumbled. But remembering how she'd shown Naruto up, she smirked. "He's stupid though, so I'm not going to dwell on it." She laughed as she skirted a small hole in the road. "I can't believe someone as smart as Hinata is marrying someone as stupid as Naruto…But then again, it's impressive she got the Hokage."

Neji nodded. Tenten watched the elegant way he looked up at the birds in the sky, the way his lips moved slowly as he said, "I'm proud of Hinata. She's grown up a lot."

Tenten couldn't help but smile. "You know, you've grown up a lot too, Neji," she said. He looked over his shoulder at her imploringly, and she nodded at him. "It's just nice that you can share your feelings so honestly now," she explained. She sighed and looked away at a pebble that she kicked idly as she walked. "Sometimes I admire you for that…" she admitted.

Neji was silent, and Tenten dared not look him. Ah, why did she have to be so nervous? Was it because of all the things that had been said today? She was suddenly so scared of him.

But she didn't want that!

She didn't want to be like Chouji and Ino, scared to see each other, to tell each other how they really felt…

Even though, she knew, soon enough they wouldn't be so scared anymore. They'd be like Hinata. Happy. And _confident_…

Tenten almost dropped the sofa when a realization crossed her mind. She knew now, that she wanted _that_! She wanted her and Neji to be happy, too. To be able to share their feelings, like this. To be confident!

That's what she wanted from Neji. Not milk tea and pocky, not a plant, not a sofa. She wanted him, and her, to be _confident_!

"I want…"

"Huh?"

Neji turned to carry the sofa backwards, so he could watch her, confused, as she snapped her head up again to face him with a determined expression. "I want you to know something I haven't told you," she said loudly. The empty dirt road echoed her voice against the hollow trees, and she felt a little less scared as she went on: "The only reason I'm getting a sofa is because I took what you said about my apartment to heart," she declared. "I was ashamed that you thought it was boring, so I decided to get some things to liven it up a bit…" She laughed, and admitted sheepishly, "If you look when we get back, I even got a plant. It's not doing much for anything, though…"

Neji was staring at her, past a strand of stray hair that was falling in his face, and he seemed bewildered. "But Tenten…" he said awkwardly. "I haven't been completely honest with you!"

Tenten blinked. "What do you mean?"

Neji opened his mouth, about to talk, but suddenly the world twisted around as Tenten suddenly felt herself falling; she and Neji had both underestimated the weight of the sofa, and when they were talking like this, both had lost strength in their hands. The sofa went tumbling down, bringing the other two with them.

Tenten coughed, pulling herself in a painful sitting position and dusting the dirt off of herself. She looked over to see Neji doing the same, and when their gazes met they both let out a groan. But Neji, discouraged as he was, did not look away from her. Pushing the now upside-down sofa out of the way, he dragged himself through the dirt so he could get a little closer to Tenten, eyes staring into hers determinedly. "Tenten, I _lied_ to you today," he insisted.

Tenten raised a brow, and he continued with an upset expression, "_A lot_. But the point is, I wasn't talking about your apartment when I said "Pretty". So I made up the fact that it was boring because I wanted to change the subject, but that was just another lie…" Tenten blinked at him, surprised, but he wasn't finished: "Then later that day, I felt badly because I wanted to tell you the truth. But I got nervous about telling you, so I just made up another excuse to see you, and so I lied about the scrolls too. I wasn't actually training today, and I didn't actually have a headache either, I was just walking around trying to figure out how to tell you, because that's what I _do_ when I'm nervous apparently, I just lie and take a lot of long walks because—"

"—Neji…" Tenten interrupted him. He stopped, watching her almost desperately, and she sighed. "…Stop talking…" she said.

Both of them recalled Neji saying that earlier, and both of them looked at each other, then away. Tenten bit her bottom lip. "So…" she said awkwardly. "If you weren't actually calling the apartment 'Pretty'…then what _were_ you talking about?"

She looked up at Neji again. His eyes were wildly searching hers, and a bead a sweat rolled down his face.

But he closed his eyes, and when they opened again they seemed calmer. Not looking away from her face, he said steadily, "You."

Tenten immediately blushed, and Neji shook his head, seeming relieved that he'd finally said it, but also extremely embarrassed. "I just…" he started awkwardly. "When you pulled your hair from your face, I saw your eyes, for real, for the first time, and I thought to myself…" He paused, and said quietly, "…that they were sparkling…"

It was silent. The calls of the birds above were like music, like they were singing to each other.

And finally, Tenten felt a giggle burst through her lips.

Neji looked up at her, surprised, as she suddenly bent over and started laughing into her hands. "So…" she said, hardly able to speak through her chuckles. "So, I just got a plant, and a whole sofa, for nothing?"

Neji nodded very slowly, seeming very bewildered. Tenten only laughed harder, slapping the dirt ground beside her, unable to control herself.

Neji looked her over, as if fearing if she was mentally ill. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, confused. "I just spent an entire day lying to you. Aren't you upset?"

Tenten shook her head, calming her giggles. "No!" she said honestly, her smile shining through brightly. "Because I lied to you today too, didn't I? Remember, the milk tea and pocky?"

Neji paused, but said nothing, and she sighed. She dragged herself over to him, grinning. "Neji," she said as she pulled herself into the shade of the sofa next to him. "Here's the truth: I don't want our relationship to be totally perfect. Lying is okay sometimes, I mean, I don't want to have to monitor our every move. Little lies here and there are okay, we don't have to dictate everything on the truth."

Neji seemed slightly in awe at her words, and Tenten's eyes twinkled. "I want us to trust each other," she went on, relaxing on her forearms on the ground. "Like we always have. I want us to be _confident_."

Neji held up a hand. Tenten raised a brow as he narrowed his eyes, in an effort to concentrate, and said slowly, "Wait…" He looked at her imploringly. "You said relationship." Tenten sat up again, and he asked, carefully, in the slowest way he could, "Are we…in a…relationship…?"

Tenten watched him for a few seconds, before she smiled again. She leaned forwards, and kissed him on the cheek. "Yes," she said, leaning back to watch his lips slowly form a little smile of his own. She giggled. "Isn't it obvious?"

And as she looked up at him, she had never felt more confident.

**the **＊ **end**

_© maravelous, 2012_


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